DC Council Game 82: Wizards 92 at Bulls 95: Ending with an Air Ball

[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 82, Washington Wizards at Chicago Bulls; contributors: Kyle Weidie and Adam McGinnis from the District.]

Had to end somehow.

Que?

MVP: Ex-Wizard Kirk Hinrich got his team buckets when it counted, did a knowledgeable job of guarding John Wall, and made up for the last time the Wizards faced the Bulls when Hinrich got ejected in a Chicago loss. Eighteen points, five assists and two rebounds for Captain Kirk.

Stat of the Game: John Wall, Garrett Temple, Cartier Martin, Trevor Booker, and Kevin Seraphin—the starters—played nine minutes together to the tune of minus-20.

A.J. Price, Garrett Temple, Chris Singleton, Jan Vesely and Jason Collins played seven minutes together to the tune of plus-12.

Want another stat of the game (or MVP)? Elder statesman Nazr Mohammed took Kevin Seraphin to school with 17 points, seven rebounds, and a game-high plus-21 in 22 minutes.

Sunk Youth.

The Wizards being down 29-8 to start the game with essentially all Bulls “back” (aside from Derrick Rose, of course; Joakim Noah came off the bench) and then fighting their way back into the game is either a testament to the resiliency we’ve seen all year long, or an indictment of some kids sinking when thrown in the pool.

But fight back they did and glimpses of positivity some left. The Wizards tied the game at 85 with just over three minutes left thanks to work from Price, Wall, Temple, Vesely and Seraphin (a 5-man unit along the lines of Wittman’s seemingly preferred method of going small down the stretch). But then Bulls vets took over. Well, first young Jimmy Butler (a source of draft ‘gotcha’ for Wizards fans—Butler was last pick of the first round in the Vesely/Singleton draft), then veteran Kirk Hinrich, and then veteran Luol Deng; those Bulls made it a 7-0 run in about 80 seconds to put the game away.

Rating five Wizards starters & two three key subs on a three-star scale.

John Wall looked in full tank mode when Chicago began the game on a 29-8 run. He was throwing up wild shots, and Kirk Hinrich’s impressive defense had him visibly frustrated. A.J. Price’s offensive spark helped get Wall going in second quarter, where Wall knocked down repeated J’s from his favored spot at the right elbow. Nate Robinson clearly had not read any scouting reports on Wall.The Wizards fought their way back to have a chance to tie game in the closing seconds. Wall’s 3-pointer came up short, an air ball, and that is how Washington’s 29-53 season would conclude. Fitting and always, #SoWizards.”Jimmy Wa’ ” finished with 23 points, four assists, and three rebounds in 38 minutes.

2 out of 3 stars

If anyone needs some “Watergate” it’s Garrett Temple. Mr. Do-It-All (a little bit) scored six points on 2-for-11 shooting (2-for-5 3Ps) with two rebounds, five assists, three steals and two turnovers against the Bulls. Temple will turn 27 in May and will be heading into his fourth NBA season, fifth year removed from a four-year college career. The guy is experienced enough, but still has plenty of time to work on that jumper. The NBA, and Randy Wittman, I’m betting gives Temple another chance. But again, jumper improvement is a must. Temple’s .457 eFG% ranks 95th amongst NBA guards who played in at least 50 games this season. That said, it’s not much worse than DeMar DeRozan (45.9 eFG%), Marco Belinelli (46.0 eFG%) or Kirk Hinrich (46.1 eFG%).

1 out of 3 stars

Cartier Martin started the game, but only played nine minutes, missed two shots, grabbed a rebound, and committed a turnover. The last we see of the nice guy? Probably. One of the first questions asked of Cartier Martin during his exit interview on Thursday: Were you hurt? Cartier’s response: “Yea, I was OK, just wasn’t playing well.”Martin’s eFG% this season (.496) is essentially the same as it was over his 52 games with Washington in 2010-11 (.497), but a far drop from his 17 games with the Wizards in 2011-12 (.549). Unfortunately, his defense and game otherwise haven’t improved enough to make a drop in shooting, over an increased amount of games, acceptable.

0 out of 3 stars

Trevor Booker had his moments in Chicago. Let’s put it that way. He played just under 31 minutes, scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and added two blocks and two steals. Booker made a solid effort against Carlos Boozer, but finished with a team-worst minus-22 (tied with Cartier Martin). Out of the four now considered “Wiz Kids” (those of uncertainty: Booker, Vesely, Seraphin and Singleton), Booker makes the most out of seemingly the least (in height, at least). There’s something to be said about that when considering the roster of the future, but something’s also gotta give, and Booker just might be a necessary throw-in part of a trade package this summer.

1 out of 3 stars

Kevin Seraphin finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two blocks in 31 minutes. Randy Wittman has stressed that Seraphin must improve at rebounding, and nine boards is somewhat fulfilling his coach’s desire. While the French big man’s development on the glass could use extra focus, his lack of force down low is more concerning. This manifested itself throughout the contest in Chicago. The Bulls starting front line abused Seraphin on defense, and he logged a poor minus-14 in plus/minus. Seraphin is 6-foot-9, 280 lbs and built full of muscle. He possess a nice touch but his shooting chart should not look like this:Seraphin has only averaged one free throw attempted per game over his entire 194-game NBA career, and his instinctive tendency to avoid contact is limiting his ability to become a reliable big man.

1.5 out of 3 stars

Honza, perhaps inspired by the sneakers designed by his fiancee, Eva, displayed long stretches of being a competent NBA player in Chicago. He stole the ball from Joakim Noah, defended the post effectively, and threw down a sick alley-oop. Vesely also fired an awful air ball, but for one night, he looked capable. One Wizards fan even noticed that game went sour for the Wizards down the stretch when Jan was taken out. With Vesely logging a plus/minus of plus-19, it was an astute point. Imagine that.

1 out of 3 stars

I could not resist the urge to write about Jason Collins in the likely swan song of his Wizards tenure, and perhaps his NBA career. Collins played to his strengths by forcing Chicago bigs into tough shots, and he pulled down a few boards and used his fouls wisely. In his little time in Washington, you could see why teams like to have him around at the end of bench to use in spot defensive situations. Collins sank his first two free throws as a Wizard. It is not Ronny Turiaf finishing a perfect 3-3 from the field, but it is quite the accomplishment. I will miss laughing at Collins’ running style because it helps me forget that Wizards officially now have nothing to show for Jordan Crawford.

1 out of 3 stars

A.J. Price dazzled in his final audition. His second quarter scoring outburst erased Chicago’s double-digit lead, and he single-handedly kept Washington in the game. He eventually cooled off, however, but did score 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting, to go with four assists and a plus-21 in plus/minus. It’s still unclear if Price will be brought back to this team, but he sure sure went out of this season with a bang.

2.5 out of 3 stars

Final #WittmanFace

Witt won’t quit, not one bit. Coaching till the last drop, coaching till the end. With the way his team’s defense improved this season—or the way his players bought in—there’s nothing wrong with Washington continuing to sing Randy’s song. So what’s next?

I see Randy Wittman realizes that he still has 17 more seconds to cuss out Kevin Seraphin #wizards

Sorry, Jason Collins.

Kyle founded TAI in 2007 and has been weaving in and out the world of Wizards ever since, ducking WittmanFaces, jumping over G-Wiz, and avoiding stints on the DNP-Conditioning list. He has covered the Washington pro basketball team as a member of the media since 2009. Kyle lives in D.C. with his wife, loves basketball, and has no pets.

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